


Strawberry Lemonade

by TheRealCinnamom



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kenma x OC, Returned feelings, Start of Relationship, cherry blossoms are blooming, kenma is in love with his best friend, picnic date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:47:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27178763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRealCinnamom/pseuds/TheRealCinnamom
Summary: Kenma and Natsuko have had feelings for one another for quite some time, and it's not until a burst of wind crashes their afternoon picnic that something comes of it.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma & OC, Kozume Kenma & Original Character, Kozume Kenma / OC, Kozume Kenma / Original Character
Kudos: 3





	Strawberry Lemonade

**Author's Note:**

> This was a commission for Janelle. Thank you so much!! I hope you like it 💕

Kenma wasn’t sure when he started to fall in love with Natsuko.

It was only recently that he realized what he felt for her went beyond friendship.

His heart felt like it skipped a beat whenever she said his name; he felt out of breath whenever they accidently touched or bumped into one another; and his hands got all sweaty whenever they were alone.

Like right now, for instance.

Kenma lowered his 3DS onto his lap. He wiped the palms of his hands on the front of his pants and focused on the floor by his feet as he fought the urge to glance up at Natsuko.

She was a few arms lengths away, brows furrowed as she struggled to tune her bass guitar. Natsuko had asked him this morning if he would keep her company while she practiced after school and, like usual, he agreed.

Unfortunately, her practice wasn’t going too well today.

Kenma felt a bit guilty at how he had to continuously resist the urge to laugh whenever she overreacted at an out-of-tune cord.

“Uhg, I can’t... get...”

Kenma looked up at her, video game forgotten once more.

The tip of Natsuko’s tongue poked out of her mouth as she continued to struggle with the tuning. She blew her bangs out of her eyes and when she did, met Kenma’s gaze. The volleyball player blushed at being caught, but the bassist didn’t seem to mind.

Natsuko smiled. “I think I should just pick it up again tomorrow.”

Kenma replied with a single hum and nodded, unsure of what to say and not wanting to say the wrong thing.

The two walked in silence until they were outside the front of the school. Kenma was lost in thought, didn’t realize Natsuko wasn’t next to him anymore until he heard the familiar _click_ of a camera. He turned around to see her smiling at him from behind her phone.

“Smile.”

Kenma wanted to shy away, but bit his tongue and granted her wish instead. He felt the butterflies in stomach swarm at the excited sound that left her, and moved a hand to tuck his hair back behind his ear when the wind picked up.

Natsuko smiled when she finally lowered her phone, rejoined Kenma’s side. “Would you be up for a picnic this weekend?”

“A picnic?”

“Yeah!” Natsuko hugged Kenma’s arm as they started walking together. “I really want to have one while the cherry blossoms are blooming.” She paused, as if waiting for an answer, but Kenma was still processing the question when she continued talking. “I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I know you just got a new game that you’ve been wanting to beat, so it’s totally fine- we can reschedule- or plan for next weekend? If... you’re not busy?”

_Natsuko is so cute when she rambles._

“Kenma?”

He blinked, blushed when he realized he still hadn’t answered. “Oh, uh, sorry, yeah, we can go this weekend.”

“Are you sure?”

Kenma smiled down at her and replied with a single hum. Natsuko returned the expression tenfold and squeezed Kenma’s arm with a burst of excitement.

“Great! I’ll prepare some food if you wanna bring snacks?”

“Sure.”

_What are good snacks for picnics_

_What kind of snacks do you eat at picnics_

_Healthy snack options for picnics_

Kenma glared at his phone screen and the unhelpful blog posts that continued to swarm the search results.

He knew a few of Natsuko’s favorite convenience store snacks, but he wanted to bring something more than just chips and pocky.

Apparently, Natsuko had been baking all day yesterday in preparation of their Sunday afternoon picnic, so the last thing Kenma wanted was for her to think he didn’t put in the same amount of effort.

Kenma grumbled, replaced the previous search with a new one.

_Easy to make picnic treats_

He scanned the results and, without fail, more blog posts stared right back at him. Kenma let his head fall back, off the edge of his bed. He closed his eyes with a sigh.

Maybe he could ask his mom?

No, she’d tease him the entire time...

Fukunaga liked to cook, maybe he could text him... but he probably wouldn’t respond for a few hours.

Kenma’s phone buzzing in his hand disrupted his train of thought, and he sat up way too fast. He frowned at the oncoming headache from all the blood rushing to his head, then lit up when he saw the message was from Natsuko.

_Natsu: Hey!! Do you think you could bring drinks? I totally forgot while I was shopping for ingredients :((_

Kenma internally thanked the universe for Natsuko’s forgetfulness and quickly typed a reply.

_Kenma: sure no problem_

_Natsu: thank you!!_

Kenma smiled, then rushed out of bed to put on shoes. He sneaked through the house, not wanting to alert his mother in the kitchen, and successfully made it to the backyard. He stood on his tip toes to peer over his neighbor’s fence from where he was on the small deck.

His neighbor had two very full lemon trees that branched over into their yard, and the Kozume family had a few strawberry bushes of their own along the side of the house.

How convenient was it that Natsuko’s favorite drink was strawberry lemonade?

Kenma didn’t really believe in fate or destiny. Things happened because they happened, not because there was a bigger reason for it.

But as Kenma finished plucking the lemons, and finished gathering the strawberries, he couldn’t help but think of Natsuko.

Her smile was not only beautiful, but widely contagious, and he couldn’t wait to watch it spread across her face when he presented her with the baby pink concoction.

And when he did, it was even better than he imagined.

Natsuko gasped, hands flying to her face. “You made lemonade! Strawberry lemonade!”

Kenma could only manage an ‘mm-hm’ as he handed it to her, and she carefully placed it on the gingham picnic blanket. The butterflies in his stomach only worsened when he took in what she was wearing.

“You- you look really nice.” Kenma offered, had to look away when Natsuko blushed.

_Cute._

“Thank you! It used to be my grandmother’s, and it was a pantsuit, but I made it into a dress. I think it looks a lot better this way.”

Kenma wasn’t sure how to respond, so he looked at her with a smile. Apparently, it was enough of a response, because she gestured to his bag.

“So! What snacks did you bring?”

Kenma dumped the convenience store goodies- after carefully pulling out the Ramune soda bottles- onto the center of the blanket. He let Natsuko pick out which ones she wanted first, and then they were all set to the side as she opened the wicker basket of freshly baked food.

It was still warm as Kenma unwrapped it, and he immediately gave Natsuko well-deserved compliments before he even finished his first bite. The volleyball player blushed as a few crumbs fell to the fabric, and he brought a hand up to cover his mouth when Natsuko laughed.

At the same time, the wind started to pick up and cherry blossoms swirled around them.

Kenma looked back at Natsuko, and he was almost in a trance.

Her laugh was as angelic as her personality, and her hair was flying in all different directions. Her cheeks grew pink as she struggled to control it, re-parting her bangs when the wind finally calmed down. When she did, Kenma was lost in her eyes.

_Wow... she’s so beautiful._

He didn’t realize he spoke his thoughts aloud until Natsuko’s expression noticeably changed. Kenma’s eyes widened.

“I’m-”

“You-”

They both paused, Natsuko letting out a small laugh while Kenma averted his eyes to the blanket. He waited for her to speak, and when he didn’t, tried again.

“I didn’t-”

“You can-”

Kenma covered his face with both hands as they spoke over each other again. Natsuko laughed loudly, and the butterflies in Kenma’s stomach returned full force.

His breath got caught in his throat when he felt a soft, smaller hand on his. Kenma couldn’t move as Natsuko gently pulled his hands off his face.

“Hey... you hiding from me?”

Kenma’s blush worsened, but he didn’t shy away. Natsuko giggled, then Kenma noticed her eyes drop down to his lips for just a _split second_ , and he didn’t think twice before he leaned forward.

It was clumsy, and admittedly a bit out of character for him, but Kenma kept completely still as he kissed Natsuko. He knew his lips were chapped, and he was incredibly inexperienced, but he hoped Natsuko didn’t-

Kenma let out a single hum when she kissed him back.

It didn’t last long, a few seconds at best, but when she pulled away, Kenma pulled her right back. He made sure the hand on the back of her neck was gentle, and he took in a deep breath through his nose when she tightened her hand around his.

When they parted, neither of them spoke.

Kenma was worried they’d trip over each other’s sentences again so he kept quiet, decided to stay in the comfort of his own mind while Natsuko gathered her thoughts first.

“That was... nice.”

Kenma nodded, squeezed her hand. He looked down at the picnic blanket and counted six lose threads before speaking.

“I’ve, um... been wanting to do that for a while, actually...” Kenma swallowed his nerves, dared to look up at Natsuko again. “You... you really are beautiful... I like you, a lot.”

Natsuko’s blush deepened and Kenma felt his heart soar as she smiled at him. “Well... it just so happens that I like you a lot too... maybe we should do something about that?”

Kenma nodded, hoped Natsuko couldn’t tell how sweaty his hand was getting. “Yeah... you wanna... go on a real date? Sometime?”

Natsuko squinted at him. “You’re saying this isn’t a date?”

“I-” Kenma panicked for a second, then frowned when Natsuko started laughing. “... not funny.”

Natsuko returned to her previous spot on the blanket, tucked some hair behind her ear. “I think it’s funny.”

“You think wrong...” Kenma muttered.

Kenma turned his head to hide his smile when Natsuko laughed, and wondered, for just a moment, why it took him this long to admit he was in love with his best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! 💕💕  
> [Please consider a like/retweet if you enjoyed!!](https://twitter.com/therealcinnamom/status/1320063636547784705)
> 
> (Commissions are currently closed)


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